The Practice War [Complete]

"How's Vega doing?" Mary called from the kitchen as you closed the front door behind you. The question felt a little incongruous, but it still brought a smile to your lips as you stepped through from the hall to see Mary and Iris cooking together.

"Better." You said, shrugging off the loose jacket and tossing it onto the rack by the wall. "Much better, actually." A keen eye swept over the kitchen workspace, taking in the herbs still out and the remains of ingredients not quite packed away again. "What did you feel like today?"

"I wanted to try a sauce again," Iris chirped happily, hopping from foot to foot. "Mom says it tastes good!" You raised an eyebrow at Mary, remembering the last time your daughter had tried making a sauce.

"It is." She told you sincerely, giggling at the look on your face. Iris just glared. "She did much better this time."

"Helped to have a recipe," the AI muttered under her breath, and you laughed warmly.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." You stepped around the kitchen table, already laid for three, and pulled her into a hug that she only slightly resisted. "I did try to explain afterward," Mary shook her head for you to stop. You did, content to just hold your daughter a little. The sauce did smell good.

"What are we having with it?" You asked instead, reaching towards a container on a low heat only for Iris to grab your wrist short.

"It's a surprise." She slipped out of your hold, gently bringing your hand back between you, then linking it abruptly with Mary's. "Now get out of my kitchen and go talk about Vega." Her tone brooked no argument, but you cocked your head all the same, curious where that had come from. She reddened adorably. "Mom wants to talk to you about her, and someone has to stop this from burning." The protest was fainter than usual, but you let it go nonetheless. Part of growing up was wanting space from your parents, wasn't it.

"Alright." You squeezed her hand before letting it drop, Mary matching you. "Let us know when dinner's ready." Mary nodded approvingly, out of your daughter's sight. You really needed her to teach you that trick.

"I will." Iris nodded brightly. She turned back to her sauce, then spun back again, extending a spoon imperiously for you to taste.

"It's good." It really was. The spoon clattered as you dropped it into the sink on your way out, Mary leading the way. Your new home had more space than you'd thought on first seeing it. Part of that was a small study on the ground floor that you also used as a place to talk together, out of Iris' hearing. Mary ignored the well-worn wooden desk that had been brought over in your shipping, instead pulling you down onto the large recliner and turning to face you.

"Mandy, you were worried about her for weeks, and now she's…better?" It struck you again how deeply different you were, and yet so similar, as you watched her eyes drift slightly towards one of the piles of books you'd left out last night.

"She is." You replied, then kept going. "I didn't say she was all better, Mary. But she's getting there. Apologising helped, but she needed time to reach back out on her own. Now she's starting to do so." Mary gave you a look, one you knew well, but the specifics were odd.

"That isn't it, Amanda," she sighed, looking down at where your hands were still joined. "I know I don't understand what broke between you, not really, but she's my friend too. Being able to see her would be nice. And you can't place all the help she needs on your shoulders alone, even if you want to."

"Mary, I hurt her. It's my mistake to heal, asking for your help…"

Brown hair bounced as Mary shook her head firmly. "That's not what you'd be doing and you know it. Vega needs friends, who understand a little of what she's going through. You know I can understand that. Invite her over for dinner, offer time that isn't on her terms or yours. It won't hurt." You didn't have to have known Mary for almost half a century to hear the rest, how it might just help, too.

She wasn't wrong.

Your relationship with Vega had been hard to explain sometimes. You'd been her patron at first, someone in power who'd believed in what she could do and gave her the chance to prove it. A year later, she'd been the only person in the star system capable of helping you heal from the consequences of the Shiplord subnet's assassination attempt. By the time you fully recovered you were friends instead of colleagues, and you'd shared a great deal. You were the first of the Unisonbound, the first Potentials to learn how to Speak. The actions you'd led with her during the Second Battle of Sol had broken the Shiplord Tribute Fleet in a way that had never been thought possible. Colleagues, friends, comrades, all links, but all part of a single being. How did you fix that when a mistake on both your parts and entirely beyond your control in how it came together cracked it?

The answer you'd found had been time. Time, and a return to the simpler things that had stood at the centre of your friendship. Stripping away Practice, or your shared leadership of the Two Twenty Three. Just two people, who had given the other chances and strength across almost two decades of shared experience. Yet Mary had been part of that too, the Metaconcert event remaining the flashiest occasion of intersection.

"Mandy." You blinked, the thoughts in your head spinning as Mary's knuckles rapped lightly against your forehead. Warmth heated your cheeks as you realised you'd not been listening to her.

"Sorry." You apologised, but that wasn't what Mary was looking for. She wanted an answer to her question. "And you're right. She's not just my friend, and getting to see you, and Iris," you smiled, "could help. As you very clearly didn't say, it can't hurt."

"I'll put dinner in the calendar then, and you will ensure that you are free for them." The touch of severity in Mary's proclamation made you laugh.

"Only if you do so as well." Out of the two of you, she was far more distractible by her work.

"The sauce is ready!" Iris called from the kitchen as you chuckled together.

"Coming!" Mary called, laughing still at the strange inversion of what you'd both grown up with before the Sorrows. "Remember, we have to do the final allocations tonight for Arcadia." She said in a lower tone as you left the study.

You nodded. "I was working on it on the way back. I think I'm done, just wanted to run it by you first. Make sure we're on the same page. Think Iris can remain distracted for long enough?"

"She's making a cake after dinner. I'm sure that will be enough." That was likely to be an understatement, given the last few tries. But for now, there was dinner.

It really was quite tasty.

Current Governmental focus lies on military development and further expansion of the Sixth Secret. Actions that would support these goals have been marked with an asterisk. Please pick:

Momentum Levels
Olympus Unleashed, Level 1
Clairvoyance, Level 1

Banked Rollover
+43 to Olympus Unleashed, will be halved if action not taken this turn,
+41 to your next Sixth Secret based Research Action

3 Research Actions

[] Inheritor's Legacy: The Elder First left much more behind in their Vault than just Vision and the Inviolate Matter shell they'd called the Adamant. Vega's last Miracle during your time as President restored it completely, but there's still a great deal to explore. What was left within the Reliquaries could spell survival for your species.
[M] Olympus Unleashed: Arcadia has been given the buildings that once housed the Olympus Colleges as a home. There is a vast amount of data buried in their Restored databanks, and that's only the student archives. If they're anything to go by, the restricted files won't hold anything on the Secrets forbidden under the Directives. You'll have to access them to check, though.
* [] Blades of Infinity: Before you stepped down, you promised Lina that you would help her with the full expansion of the FSN's technological base into one that could not just fight, but defeat a Regulars formation. You make good on your promises.
[] A World of Secrets: Looking into the Secrets is always a complex task, and with the existence of the Directives it can be dangerous too. You need to understand more about these loopholes in reality. But which ones?
-[] Tasting Lightning: The Luminary's representative gave humanity an Emitter; the cornerstone of all Third Secret technology. Electromagnetic manipulation has immense possibilities if you can understand how to access the Secret that makes it possible. Who better to try and find out than you?
-[] Wings of Starlight: Humanity has perfected a Fifth Secret drive system comparable to what the most intricate workings of Practice had been able to create before the Second Battle of Sol, but a few of Arcadia's members think there might be something more…and that it might link to the First Secret. Connections between the Secrets are possible, you know this. But humanity's yet to discover one.
* [] A Clear Sky: The atmospheric conversion towers on Mars are incredible examples of Practiced technology that no one understands beyond that it involves the Sixth Secret. Adriana's government has confirmed them to be free of an Second Secret influence, but that doesn't explain how they work.
[M] Clairvoyance: The scanner you built last year could prove to be the centrepiece of a technological breakthrough that would allow them to free their peoples of the plague of Shiplord subversion. What you created is an Artefact of your Practice, and those have never been easy to replicate. But if you don't try… [149/150]
[] Practice in Unity: You talked to the Circles last year, and asked them to help you begin to understand how some small measure of Practice might be within the reach of every human. The problem lies in finding a way to bring it out. You've but one example to go on; your own actions during the Second Battle of Sol. Still, it's better than nothing.
*New* * [] A Skin of Steel: Until now, your work on Iris' shell and the surrounding technology has proven too resource intensive to be worth extensive study. It's always been there, but more important things have been in front of it. Mary's creation from that base of technology last year has changed the variables of that process immensely. [25/???]
[] Write-in

4 Minor Actions

[] Mother of Circles: Beyond returning to the Circles to learn and teach, there's also the opportunity to simply be part of them again. You never lost your place among them, you simply set it aside for a time. Now you can return to it if you wish, to grow and build.
[] The Spoken Word: Your success in teaching Vega to Speak, for all that you still lack an advanced understanding of the subject, led her to suggest that you begin teaching others. Not everyone is her, but the vast scale that Words act on make this a possibility you can't ignore. Even if only a fraction of the Potentials prove capable of it. [Stage 1 of 2]
[] Valkyries: The Two Twenty Three were the only force to emerge from the Second Battle of Sol intact, after facing the most lethal of the FSN's enemies in that fight. They brought down the Medicament, and faced Shiplords in direct combat aboard Calypso. Yet there is much that can still be done to temper the blade of the Unisonbound, and you are part of that weapon. It must not be marred by imperfections.
[] Tinker: Being free of your old role changed many things, but one that didn't was your interest in creating and understanding your own Practiced creations. Two of those remain unknown to you in full, and you finally have the time to study them. You also now have the time to dedicate to creation again, with all your new understanding of Practice. That's going to be interesting. (May be taken multiple times)
[] An Uncertain Grasp: The Lady in Fire Enfolded is a group within the Circles that seems dedicated to confounding you. On the one hand, they believe in you to a degree that is far more than you're comfortable with. On the other, they've refused to jump to conclusions as to your presence on Mars when the Restoration occurred. How to deal with them, and if you even should, is a question that you're not sure there's an answer to. But if there is, you know who to ask.
[] The Past is Prelude: The Olympus Colleges were more than just research centres. They were places of learning as much as science, and Arcadia is still an Institute. That means it, too, is a place of learning. You know far more than you like to consider, but there's no reason that that knowledge can't be put to good use. You've never been that sort of teacher, but there's nothing stopping you from learning.
[] Web of the World: Arcadia has stripped the time to truly focus on government policy, but that doesn't leave you without ways to support or influence it. A few words from you still hold considerable weight, and you've no lack of ears open to them. [Please write-in your general intent when choosing this action. Leads to sub-vote.]
*New* [] Caliburn: Iris has more than a body now, she has a shield against the world that the Shiplords make so hostile to her very existence, married to a humanity she's still learning to understand. Exploring that could be dangerous, however, and that leaves you with the final part of Mary's plans for her frame. One day, not now, or tomorrow, your daughter will need a sword. [281/500]
*New* [] A Healer's Fire: You're a Mender, you know that. Conflict is difficult for you, if not as much as Mir. But when you spoke Purify the first time, at the height of the Second Battle of Sol, you weren't trying to fix something. You framed the logic of the action in the manner of excising cancer, but it wasn't that simple. What you did that day was use Practice as a weapon, something you've only done once since and the second time is an edge case. You don't want to explore this, your very Focus rebels against it, but what you did that day might need to be understood.
[] Write-in

1 Personal Actions
Child of Sight is locked until further notice. Harmonic Voice is locked for 1 turn.

[] Powerful Words: Your words have a Practiced strength to them, but that's a cheap thing to say when you have no real understanding of what's involved. In some ways it's exhilarating, being able to draw so easily on the strength of your Focus. But you worry about what could happen if you put Practice behind a wrong word. You need to hone this gift, learn its limits and strengths. [456/500]
[] The Web Between: In 2119 your understanding of the conceptual links that Harmonials can access took a massive leap forward. Yet you're still not able to explain it in ways that others can understand. This will be theoretical work above all else; trying to translate feeling and instinct into something much more concrete. But it needs to be done. [132/???]
[] Unison Training: Training with the entire Two Twenty Three is one thing, but you can get just as much personally out of dedicating time to work with your own small part of it. Vega, Kalilah and you represent three of the organisations most powerful members, and a high level of synchronicity between you will reflect on the rest even without full group training. Of course, combining the two will make that effect much stronger.
[X] Harmonic Voice: Vega's Harmonic Circle did something that no one could have expected two years ago, but only a handful are aware of your involvement in that. She's been struggling a bit to recover from the consequences of that action, and also with how it's catapulted her so fully into the public eye. You know that world. If you can't help, something is truly wrong.
[X] Child of Sight: Some have called Iris your daughter. In this case, the some would actually miss some of the truth. The young AI is your daughter, but she's also so much more than that. And you might not be the expert that Amelie is, but the last time you checked, stability was important for children.
[] Bonds of Blood and Laughter: Although your sabbatical has ended, you won't be missing your friends or family as much as you did before. Lead Director of Arcadia is a big job, but it pales in comparison to the Presidency. Still, you could always make more time for them.
*New* [] Science and Potential: You've had a taste of teaching now and found it intensely rewarding. Towards the end, you were even writing out lesson plans for a larger course. With some time and effort, you think you could make something worth a place on Institute study panels.
[] Write-in

Hero Units
Hero Units may be assigned to Research Actions to support you, adding relevant modifiers and the opportunity for synergy bonuses if you choose wisely. Hero units are assigned by adding a sub-vote of their name to the action you wish to assign them to. Only one Hero unit may be assigned to each Research Action.

Mary Alessandra D'reve
A genius in a way that goes beyond the normal definitions, Mary's understanding of science and the Secrets is like no other. The Restoration of Mytikas has left your friend fragile, but she's healing quickly now, and you can see the strength returning to her with every day that goes by.
Special: Applies a blanket bonus to all Research Actions if left unassigned. If not directly assigned, she may apply her stats to any or all Research Actions, bypassing standard limitations.

It is advised that you limit the number of actions that Mary can apply to if this option is taken. Do so by including a [/] Mary: [number] in your plan, which I will take as the limiter for how many actions she can apply herself to.

Iris
The first AI that could be said to have been born of humanity, Iris developed with incessant speed until the early months of last year, when she found a few friends her own age. Her rampant growth has slowed since, to more human levels, but she's still an AI. And she was designed to coordinate and oversee research.
Special: Lowers synergy thresholds of all Research Actions. Cannot currently be assigned. May apply her stats to any one Research Action into AI or similarly advanced computer science per turn.

Phoebe, The Iron Eye
Phoebe lost everything to the Sorrows, and almost lost it all again in a deadly misstep just before the Second Battle of Sol. Yet she recovered, and with your help Insight was rebuilt newer, and far more capable than before. Phoebe isn't a scientist in the same way you are, but she is the leader of Project Insight, giving her the ability to access the knowledge of the universe in a way no one can match.
Special: Cannot be applied to any research directly into the Secrets.

Vision
In many ways Iris' true mother, Vision's birth was far more accidental and went unrecognised until much of her development had finalised. Vision is a fully developed AI, possessed of a powerful intuition and a truly comprehensive library of knowledge. Specialises in heavy duty data processing, modelling, and intuitive design concepts.


Please vote by plan. Planmakers, please label your plans with the [Plan] tag so that it separates from the below.

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Answers With Amanda

Each turn, you (the questers) will get the opportunity to vote on a single question to ask Amanda about the world that she lives in, her past, etc. A warning: attempts to ask 'waifu' questions will result in you wasting a question if it wins. I should not need to tell you what classifies as one of those. The response will come in the manner of a reply to a friend, a diary entry, or something along those lines. Do not expect more than a paragraph or two per response (this may be lies). I'm doing this so that you can start learning more about the world if you like, and hear about it from the PoV of Amanda, who will be the primary point of view of the quest from this point onwards.

[] [Answer] How has philosophy progressed since the Week of Sorrows? Nihilism, Existensialism; How have they all changed?
[] [Answer] In the past, humans were mortal - A Greek word that meant 'Doomed to Die'. Much of our culture was influenced and shaped by that one fact…which is no longer true. How has biological immortality changed humanity?
[Answer] How has food and cooking changed with the advent of the Sixth Secret? Has Earth's culinary tastes changed at all? And what's Iris' favorite?
[Answer] Many references have been made to "Humanity 2.0", the fundamental restructuring of humanity's base nature, following the Shiplords' invasion during the Week of Sorrows, orchestrated by the Elder First, and apparently with the unanimous/near-unanimous consent of the public. What exactly was agreed to, and how was this en-masse restructuring accomplished? Could it be done again, if needed?
[] [Answer] Write-in